The Shadow's Presence
by AbsoluteGeneus
Summary: Chapter 2-Meet Samuel Lance, and expierence a night in his shoes.
1. Prelude

The Shadow's Presence- Prelude

_The Shadow's Presence- Prelude_ Back Water Station "Agatstan": Inside Confederate Borders

The hot desert sun beat down upon the land wit relentless fury.The only means of shade was a high tree stationed on a cliff edge to the northeast of the camp.Not surprisingly, that was where the platoon was, completely ignoring the orders being shouted up to them by a commander wearing a Firebat suit.

The Marines laughed and continued to ignore the red corporal as he yelled threats and cursed at the slackers.They began to toss rocks and sticks at the man and returned the verbal attacks.****They proceeded to****disgrace the corporal until another Marine came up the side of the cliff with a cooler.They all turned to shout approval at the man and walked over to join him under the tree.

"Hey, Jon," a well-built black Marine spoke, reaching into the cooler for an ice-cold beer. "Why don't you get off that damn pedestal you're on and have a goddamed beer with us?"He popped the top open and took a chug, letting the cool liquid spill down his hot armor.He removed it from his lips and let out a burp that echoed throughout the whole canyon.The other Marines cheered and slapped him on the back. 

"Ha, ha.Good one Matt!You're the best goddamed beer chugger on this godforsaken hellhole of a planet.Heck, you could probably beat the captain if you wanted to!"Matt shook his head in agreement and reached for another cold one.

The good cheer of the soldiers lasted a few minutes before the corporal finally made his way to the top of the cliff.Some moaned, others cursed and threw beer cans at the red-suited figure.As the commander drew close, Jon stood up and saluted him.The other Marines snickered and sent a fresh barrage of rocks his way.

"You're a suck-up, Jon," the black Marine sneered.His statement was followed by cheers of "Pussy," "Suck up," and the occasional kissy sound. The reticent soldier blushed and sat underneath the tree again.He slowly put his head in his hands and wished he could just disappear.

The Firebat stood in front of the Marines and lifted up the visor on the helmet.The cold blue eyes stared sternly through each of the men until one of them shook.A low muttering of "oh, shit, it's her," lingered in the background.Some slowly began to stand up and pull off a half salute, before being shot at again with those piercing blue eyes.

The Firebat removed her helmet to reveal a striking young woman. She looked to be in her late twenties and had medium blond hair, which was now dotted with black dirt from her helmet. Her face was drenched with sweat, and the blond and black hair was matted to her forehead.She tossed her helmet to the side and watched it roll towards the tree, kicking up dust with every bounce.****

Jon quickly stood up and ran to pick up the helmet.Several Marines tried to laugh, but their laughter echoed in the silence.Jon held the dusty helmet in his hands and sat near the woman.

After a minute of dead silence, mind the occasional chuckle and name calling between the immature Marines in the back, the Firebat licked her dry lips and muttered something under her breath.She turned to Jon and motioned him to stand up.He slowly got to his feet and walked toward her.

"Y-yes sir, ma'am?" he quietly spoke.His knees buckled and the sweat on his white, sun-blasted skin began to pour more profusely than ever.He wasn't shaking out of fear for the commander, but because she was so cute.He wasn't even close to her age though, only twenty-one.But that seemed to slip his mind as he stared into the eyes of the corporal.She smiled at him and whispered into his ear. 

As for most people, the ear is a sensitive place.Her closeness excited him, and about twelve seconds later, he wished he had looser pants on.

"Jon, you can go, I gotta teach these morons a lesson."She slapped him on the ass and pushed him toward the camp.He didn't walk fast because, well, it was hard to.The only sounds he heard while climbing down the cliff was the corporal screaming at his fellow Marines.By the time he was on the ground, he saw half the squad doing pushups and jumping jacks with the sun blazing behind them.

After a minute or two, the loud speaker burst forth with the sound of a siren, a code red siren.Jon quickly ran to the barracks a few yards away to find out what was going on.He tried to ask a Vulture rider**, **but all he got was a puff of smoke in his eyes.He ran a couple more yards to the mineral patches to ask the SCVs, but they were no help either.

Unfortunately, his question was about to be answered.The female corporal ran up to him, followed by the panting Marines.She gave him a grave look, followed by one simple command: "Run."

She slapped her helmet on and ran to a bunker at the choke point of the camp.Two tanks rolled next to him and started to go into siege mode by the bunkers.The SCVs ran into the command center, and more men started to pour out of the barracks.

Jon knelt down and fastened the helmet on his head and lowered the visor.He released the safety on his gauss rifle and ran towards the front line.Before reaching the front, he was rocked by the sound of siege tank fire and fell off his feet.

Now the ground was shaking harder than usual.Not siege tank fire, but more like thousands of feet running at top speed.The noises he heard in the distance were inhuman; these beasts had a****thirst for blood in their screams.

Jon suddenly realized what the corporal meant when she said run.He realized that no one was going to survive this battle.The whole camp was going to die, not at the hands of humans, but by ungodly creatures.Some of which these people have never seen before.

Jon ran to the front bunker where the corporal was.He opened the door and looked into the structure.He mustered up his strength and tossed the closest man he could out of the bunker and jumped in himself.He then locked the door and positioned himself next to the corporal.

She looked at him and smiled.She gave him a little kiss on the cheek before pointing her gun out of the slit of the bunker.

"In the next life Jon, maybe we'll get married."She shut the visor on her helmet and began to order the troops to fire.

Within seconds, the bunker was stripped of its metal and the people inside ripped to shreds.

The rest of the camp fell within minutes of the attack by the beasts.No one survived; shards of the warriors' armor and splattered blood saturated the terrain.No structure or piece of equipment was salvageable for further use.The soldiers' remains were burned, and this incident was kept under wraps.


	2. The Shadow's Presence-Chapter One

The Shaow's Presence-Chapter One

Chapter One 

Kel-Morian Outpost: Moria 

Samuel Lance tossed and turned in his bed all night long.Like many rookie fighters before him, the constant threat of invasion made it hard to sleep.First he was too hot, then freezing cold, then he had to pee. Whenever he got up to go to the bathroom, he would just stand there in his boxers and t-shirt staring at the toilet bowl.As the night wore on, he only grew more restless.

After sweating through his second pillow, he sat up.Forgetting he was in a bunk bed, his head smashed against the mattress springs of the bed on top of him.He cursed in rapid succession, and woke up half the barracks.

He tried to get back into bed quickly so he wouldn't be noticed, but a cold hand gripped over his throat interrupted his mock-sleep.The hand began to squeeze Sammy's scrawny neck until he turned blue, and he heard a guttural voice muttering, "Can't you sit still, you son of a…"One of the Marines at the other end of the room ran over and jerked the man's hand off Sammy.When Sammy turned to see his attacker and the man who may have just saved his life, he found himself face to face with Private Alstan Gates and his commander, Sergeant Manton.

Sergeant Manton was a Marine who had been fighting for more than 20 years.His face showed the torment he had been through; the multitudinous wrinkles, scars, burns, and lack of hair were constant reminders to the men about what it's like to live through war.His face told a story of glory, but also one of anguish and defeat.

"Private Gates!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, his already red face growing more sanguine with each second. He tossed Alstan's hand away from Sammy's throat."What in the hell are you doing to Private Lance?I should give you toilet duty for the act you just pulled!"Manton's fists shook in anger.Sweat began to roll down his temple, each drop slowed by a large vein bulging out of his head.****

Manton swung his fist at a bedpost and broke it in half, sending splinters and woodchips everywhere.His fist was cut and bleeding, but he didn't care about the pain, he was used to it.He had more punishment to give out, anyway.He turned to Sammy with a sadistic look in his eyes.

"Hello, Private Lance," he whispered, but the psychotic look on his face gave away that he hadn't fully gained self-composure.He rubbed his bloody palm with his other hand while continuing to look Sammy straight in the eyes.

"What are you doing up at this time of night?"

Sammy looked at his palms and realized that they were dripping like a leaky faucet.He looked up to give the sergeant an answer, but the second his mouth opened to speak, he received the worst reprimand of his life.Manton got right up to the soldier's white sweaty face and let loose, with no respect to the other men sleeping in the room.

"I know what you were doing!You just wanted to get up and dilly-dally around like a little girl!"Manton began to prance around, mimicking a little girl.Sammy tried to hold back a giggle, but less than a half second later, Manton was back in Sammy's face, angrier than ever.

"Do you think that's funny, Private?!Am I making you laugh?!Do I look like a _fucking clown_ to you, Private??"Manton paused to catch his breath.He stared into Sammy's frightened eyes like a hawk at an injured mouse in a barren field.He noticed Sammy's eyes welling up with tears that were too scared to fall down the cheeks of their creator, and he smiled evilly.

"Are you gonna cry now?!" he yelled.He lifted his hand as if to strike Sammy, and Sammy braced himself for the blow by ducking under his covers.His bunkmates began to laugh, but they were silenced as Manton turned his chilling gaze upon the rest of the room.

"You all want a piece of me tonight, I see.Don't you worry…I'll finish this business tomorrow, so sleep tight." He glanced at Alstan, now back in his own bunk, then at Sammy's figure, still covered by the sheets. "Lance and Gates, you're both on SCV duty tomorrow until I'm through with you.Now get to bed, you scumbags." Sammy peeked his head out from beneath the covers, and once more caught the sergeant's intense glare."This is not over!" he shouted as he stomped out of the room and slammed the door shut.

After that, no one spoke for a good five minutes.The first sounds came from the top-left bunk.

"You got mining duties, you got mining duties," the figure chanted in a sing-song voice.Alstan shot up in his bed.****

"C'mon Tony, get your ass down here and say that to my face, you little prick," he shot back.Tony retorted under his breath.

"C'mon Tony, share what you said with the rest of us."****Alstan paused with a look of feigned shock."Tony, this is the _men's_ bunk area.You're in the wrong one.Make a left down the hall and look for the ladies' bunks, 'cuz that's where you belong, you sissy!"Tony jumped off the top bunk and reached for his rifle as Alstan reached for his own.Six other men jumped out of their bunks and held the two men back from killing each other.Sammy watched in awe at how fast these men were eager to fight, enemy or fellow soldier.He silently went to grab his rifle just in case one did fire. One of the Marines not holding Alstan or Tony back looked toward Sammy and saw the gun in his hands.Suddenly all hell broke loose.

The figure in the bunk next to him pointed and screamed, "Sammy has a gun, he's goin' postal!"Sammy freaked and dropped the gun.It hit someone's foot, leading the group to more cursing and brawling.

Sammy silently crawled into the extreme corner of his bunk.He looked out the window and saw daylight slowly brightening the sky.A new day was upon them, but this one didn't promise to be any better than the night before.****

*****

The morning didn't bring any refuge for Sammy.He wasn't able to get any sleep after the incident with Alstan and Manton.He slowly crawled out of bed and put on his clothes.

The whole bunk stared at him with empty eyes as he washed and brushed his teeth.Alstan constantly cursed at him and hit him every chance he got.Tony snapped mercilessly at Alstan, and scuffles would break out every four minutes.Sammy knew he was the root of the problem and decided to leave the bunk, but Manton interrupted his departure.He gave Sammy the same evil grin he had witnessed the night before.What followed was a complete psychological rape by words.** **

"Son, where in the hell do you think you're goin'?Don't you know it's your turn for SCV duty?So go get suited up."The vein in his head began to bulge."And get your ass to the lines and build us some goddamed supply depots!"

Sammy cringed as a glob of spit hit the corner of his right eye.He went to wipe it away, but was stopped by Manton's huge hand making contact with his face.He looked at the sergeant with wide eyes.This was the first time the sarge had physically hit someone.Sammy held his right cheek in pain and anger.Manton stared at him and uttered the words that can send any teetering man off the edge.

"What baby, you going to cry now?"He paused a second to see Sammy's reaction, then laughed at his own joke like it was the funniest thing he had ever heard. 

Sammy's anger began to rise slowly, and his one hundred thirty five pound body began to shake.He clenched his fist until it hurt.He tried to move the anger someplace else, but he was full; the only place for it to go now was out.

He stared at Manton, who was still laughing and calling Sammy names.

"This is the perfect time," Sammy thought as he pulled his fist back to strike.He aimed for Manton's nose, that big ugly nose, broken many times in battle.One more break wouldn't make much of a difference.He lunged forward, and the sound of bone on bone echoed across the camp.Blood sprayed across the floor as the fist finished its journey and wound up back by Sammy's side.

Manton hit the floor like a ton of bricks, and Sammy smiled.Unfortunately, this moment of satisfaction didn't last long.

Manton looked up at Sammy, blood streaming from his nose.A smile slowly crossed his face and he stood up, unleashing one of his own back onto Sammy.The shot hit Sammy's left cheek and sent him flying backwards.

The rest of the memory faded quickly, only the throbbing pain in his face and the impact of the punch lingered in his mind.

He passed out on the floor, under Manton's unmoving gaze and twisted, blood-smeared smile.

"Someone get this kid a medic," he spat out, turning away from the limp body and walking out the door without a glance backward.


End file.
